Gotta Love The Ssa

[tdak]

hi all,

A follow up on my SSDI case. OK, filed for SSDI OCT.06, had state doctor exam about a month ago (April). I had called my claims rep/case worker, I forget the exact title of the person handling the case, in regards to m medical conition and because of the rarity, should I bring any additional information for them. He told me yes, bring what I thought might help the doctor examing me a better knowldge of my condition and to call him back in 2 weeks and he should have an answer for me on my claim. So I did, MRI copies, and surgical reports things like that. So I go, exam was a joke, the psych eval was twice as long as the general medical eval. So no biggie, now it's 2 weeks later, I call and call til the rep answers the phone, now he says to me, oh, I see here that you have an eye exam at a opthamologist, and they referred you to a neuro-opthamologist, did you go? Yes, I told him and that I had already given that information back in Oct with all my other doctors names. OH, he says, I do not have any of the medical records from his office, we will have to send out a medical release to him. I mentioned that I have a 2 page report that was sent to my original eye doctor from him in regards to the referral and the diagnosis, exam etc info and could I fax that to him and would it be acceptable instead of waiting for the doctor report. At this point another week or so isn't going to matter now, so he said go ahead and fax it to him. So I did that day. He also told me to call him and follow up in a week to 10 days. I called the SSA rep yesterday to make sure he had everything they needed to make a decision on my case,he said he was still waiting on the neuroopthamologist doctor's records and I said, wasn't that why I faxed you a copy of the letter from him 10 days ago, he was like, hold on let me check. He gets back on the phone and says, oh someone just had the fax listed as a coorespondence and not as medical information so it was never fowarded to the doctos here who make the decision on your case. He then told me he would send all that info diectly to the doctor who makes the final decision today and I would know by the end of the week. I was in awe, he asked me to fax it, so I did, then doesn't do anything with it, You just gotta love the SSA.

My advice to everyone waiting on the SSA for a decision in a claim, give the rep/claim person working on you case a call, just to make sure they have all the information they need to make a decision. I called the toll free # and they gave me the claims reps direct extension to call him. If I didn't call I would be waiting a few more weeks or even months because of the oversight on my eye specialist doctor to begin with.

Sorry it was so long winded, I tend to do that from time to time.

Regards,

Tamara

Edited May 22, 2007 by tdak

[tdak]

Free,

Isn't that the truth! The doctors don't want to label, but yet they do. They don't want to misled but yet they do. You're right about the gifted families part. My nephew is in all gifted/accelerated classes and is 14. He plays sports for the varsity team because he is so good. He is a straight A+ student and doesn't even try. My sister also is supersmart and should have been in all gifted programs, if they had any close to where we lived back then. My daughter is as I describe her a 8-9 year old trapped in a 12 year old body. Her education levels for most subjects are about 4-5th grade, but once summer comes or any type of break she does regress. She goes to school all year round which helps a lot. She doenst retain a lot or well I should say. It is very hard trying to give her the space for her age, but the supervision for her needs. The doctors also seemed to think that her gray matter in her brain was affected when she was born due to lack of oxygen. She was choking on her marconium (first stool) while still in the womb and birthing canal, plus umbillical cord was wrapped around her neck twice. I am just thankful that she is alive and healthy today. there are things that she is very good at outdoor activities, she loves the computer, video games, and art. Math is also her strongest subject. I can't even think what my life would be like today if she wasn't a special needs child. Anyway it is nice to be able to talk to someone who totally understands what I am going through to say the least, especially with my own health problems.

Thanks and Enjoy your day,

Tamara

[free_spirit_etc]

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by

Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Free,

Isn't that the truth! The doctors don't want to label, but yet they do. They don't want to misled but yet they do. You're right about the gifted families part. My nephew is in all gifted/accelerated classes and is 14. He plays sports for the varsity team because he is so good. He is a straight A+ student and doesn't even try. My sister also is supersmart and should have been in all gifted programs, if they had any close to where we lived back then. My daughter is as I describe her a 8-9 year old trapped in a 12 year old body. Her education levels for most subjects are about 4-5th grade, but once summer comes or any type of break she does regress. She goes to school all year round which helps a lot. She doenst retain a lot or well I should say. It is very hard trying to give her the space for her age, but the supervision for her needs. The doctors also seemed to think that her gray matter in her brain was affected when she was born due to lack of oxygen. She was choking on her marconium (first stool) while still in the womb and birthing canal, plus umbillical cord was wrapped around her neck twice. I am just thankful that she is alive and healthy today. there are things that she is very good at outdoor activities, she loves the computer, video games, and art. Math is also her strongest subject. I can't even think what my life would be like today if she wasn't a special needs child. Anyway it is nice to be able to talk to someone who totally understands what I am going through to say the least, especially with my own health problems.

Thanks and Enjoy your day,

Tamara

[tdak]

Free,

wow!

That was really great and to the point.

Thank you for sharing that with me.

I realy loved it.

Tamara